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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. WILKB. MACHINE FOR BENDING AND STRAIGHTBMNG METAL. No. 256,260 Patented Apr.1`1,1882.

f (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' y A. WILKE.

MACHINE FOR BENDING AND STRAIGHTENING METAL. No. 256,260. Patented Apr. 1l, 1882.

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(No Model.) '3 sheets-sheet 3.

A. WILKE.

MACHINE FOR BENDING AND STEAIGHTBNING METAL.

1\To.256,260. l f Patented Ap 11,1882.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUGUST WILKE, OF BRUNSWICK, GERMANY.

MACHINE FOR BENDING AND STRAI-GHTENING METAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,260, dated April 11, 1882.

Application tiled December 22, 1881. (No model.) Patented in Austria December 19, 1876, in Germany July 14, 1877, in England July 2S, 1877, in France September 26, 1879, and in Belgium April 30, 1880.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I, AUGUST WILKE, of Brunswick, Germany, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Bending and Straightening Metal; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eX- act description of the same.

The object of my invention is to provide for rolling thin sheets of plate metal and it consists, first, in the means by which the upper as well as the lower system of rolls is given a positive motion, instead of adapting the upper rolls to be moved by the movement of the plate, as ordinarily done.

It consists, further, in the adjustment of the rolls to different thicknesses of metal.

It also consists in peculiar means for supporting the rolls when of greater than ordinary length, and generallyin the novel arrangement and combinations of the parts comprising my invention.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side eleva- Fig. 3 is au end view of the machine, showing the manner of sup. porting the rolls when of greater len'gth than common.

In these drawings, A A represent framework intended to support the operating mechanism. This frame-work consists of cornerposts and cross-beams B B and two foundation-beams, C C, the whole being braced, as shown at D. In the foundation are formed bearings for the lower series of rolls, which are preferably four in number, as shown in Fig. 1. The rolls themselves are of the construction ordinarily used in plate-rolling machines, and each roll is provided with a spurwheel, forming a trainof gearing. The principal roll, A', is provided at one end with a large spur-wheel, 1, and at the other with a small pinion, 2, and an intermediate pinion, 3, placed on the shaft of the said roll outside the frame. The pinion 3 operates the pinion 4, which is on the shaft of the roll E--one of the upper series. The other end of the shaft of the roll E gears with a pinion on the shaft of the roller B' of the lower series and gives motion to such roll. The shaft of the roll A', by means of the pinion 2, operates also the roll F of the upper series, such roll F giving mot-ion to the roll C of the lower series, while the roll C', through a pinion, 5, operates the last roll, G, of the upper series. It is thus evident that the motion is transmitted alternately from one roll to another from opposite ends or sides of the apparatus, the shaft of each roller being provided with a pinion at each end, excepting the rolls at the end of the lower series, which are furnished with a pinion on one end only, as obviously,being the end of the tra-in, they cannot communicate motion any further. The upper series of rolls are journaled in a movable sup port, H, grooved at the ends and working in guides I I, formed on each of the corner-posts of the fram e. This is intended to permit the upper series of rolls to be adjusted simultaneously "'to accommodate metallic plates of different thicknesses. This adjustment is accomplished by means of the shaft J ,working in bearings K K, attached to the frame, and this shaft is provided with wormsLL,which gear respectively into segmentsMM',keyed on shaftsNN/,which shafts workin bearings in the upper cross-bars, B B. On the shafts N N', and within the bear- .ings lastmen tioned, is an eccentric O 0,which,

when in proper position, force arms l? P down upon the shafts of the end rolls, E G, of the upper series. The revolution of the countershafts N N is effected by means of a handwheel on the shaft J, by which such shafts and the worms carried by them are revolved, and thereby the segments and the shafts which carry the eecentrics operated.

It is evident that the loose frame carrying upper rolls may thus be adjusted downward to as great an extent as the.shape of the eccentric will allow; and it is also evident that if pressure of the eccentric on the arms be relaxed the admission of a thicker grade of plate between the rolls will force such rolls and frame up to a position where the eccentric will bear upon them and prevent their further movement.

In case the machine is adapted for rolling unusually wide plates, it has been found necessary to support the upper and lower rolls, and for this purpose the device illustrated in Fig. 3 is employed. This consists of a series of four short rolls carried in bearn gs in a standard, Q, adapted to bear on the lower rolls IOO about midway of their length, and a similar set of three short rolls may be carried in bearings on a standard, R, supported in the upper part of the-main frame, as shown in dotted linesin the same figure, for frictional contact with the upper set ot' rolls. It will be understood that the number of short rolls may be varied with the number of the large rolls.

Power may be applied to the device in any suitable manner by means of proper belts and pulleys, or, if by hand, through a large ywheel. (Not shown.)

In the opera-tion each plate, after being first caught by the two outer rolls, is independently carried forward through the whole system. The sheets that have been passed two or three times through the system come out smooth, even, and free from all bulging, as well as from scales formed by heat, which latter are worked oft in the many bendings which the plates have to undergo,'since the upper series of rolls extends down ,between the two rolls of the lower series and forces the plate to bend in passing through between them.

Having thus described my invention, what I AUGUST WILKE.

Witnesses:

WILLIAMS C. FOX, J OHS. KRAoKE. 

